This extremely long story you are about to read has a happy ending, so stick with it!

A kind, concerned citizen found a homeless cat and asked us for help. As always, we were full, but this person decided that she was willing to wait until we had room for her newfound friend. When Feburary 2016 rolled around, we had finally come to this cat's name on the list. We called her Nutmeg and discovered that she was just a little bit more..... rotund....than a typical cat her size. Sure enough, she turned out to be very pregnant, and though the world already has plenty of kittens, we decided to welcome this litter too! Nutmeg went straight to a foster home where she would be provided all the specialized care a pregnant kitty deserves and where she would have a safe place to raise her babies when they arrived. We even threw her a kitten shower to celebrate their arrival!

About a month later, Nutmeg safely delivered four large kittens who we named The Punisher (due to his respectable size and fierce appearance), Elektra (because we had been watching a lot of Daredevil that month on Netflix), Meg, and Carrot Top. All the babies grew quickly and Nutmeg settled in nicely to raising her babies. She had frequent colds and maintained a thin frame, which isn't atypical for a nursing momma. When a box of orphaned kittens was taken in by the rescue, Nutmeg volunteered to nurse a couple of the babies, and though she tried her hardest, we noticed her health was negatively affected by nourishing these extra babies. We took Nutmeg to the vet to determine if she would be able to safely continue, and we received devastating news. Nutmeg tested positive for FeLV.

We had only recently begun testing all our adult cats for FIV and FeLV, and we had a limited number of tests available for our use. Nutmeg was deemed a low priority because she wasn't yet available for adoption, and because FeLV positive cats do not frequently carry a litter to term and almost never deliver four live, healthy kittens that would be thriving at four weeks of age, as hers were. So the diagnosis took us by surprise and our initial research painted a very, very grim tale. Our most likely scenario, according to many veterinarians, would be that Nutmeg and all of her babies would be positive for the virus and live shortened lifespans (likely less than two years for the kittens). Though we considered many options, we ultimately decided to place the two kittens she was feeding with a bottle feeding foster and immediately wean her four week old babies and separate them from Nutmeg to prevent the spread of the virus from mom to babies through grooming and allow Nutmeg's body to focus on maintaining its own health.

Nutmeg and the babies were both distressed by the separation, but not nearly as much as their human foster mom was distressed by the terrifying news and by their sad reactions to being kept apart. Abruptly weaning four large four-week old kittens was also no easy task and most of the babies required at least some syringe-feeding at first.

Against the odds, Nutmeg and her babies gained weight and thrived as we all took to researching how to give her and the kittens their best chance at life. We learned a lot about this condition, including that it can be cleared by some cats. This raised our hopes that perhaps at least one of these cats or kittens may one day be fully cured.

Nutmeg

Nutmeg was retested several weeks following her initial diagnosis. We requested an IFA test, which looks at the bone marrow. Amazingly, the result was negative! This did not mean she was out of the woods necessarily, but it meant the virus was not in her bones. A repeat SNAP test later showed a faint positive, indicating some chance the virus remained in her system. At long last, repeated SNAP and IFA tests both came back in agreement: NEGATIVE!! Nutmeg had cleared the virus and was officially adopted by her foster family!!

Carrot Top

During the weaning phase, we worried terribly about Carrot Top. He wasn't taking well to eating regular food and his weight wasn't increasing as well as we had hoped. Finally, he got over these issues and began growing, thriving, and eating just like his brothers and sister! At several months of age, we took all four of the kittens in for a SNAP test to determine if they would be affected by the condition. Carrot Top tested negative right away!! A repeat test was performed for him and the others just to be safe, but the result was the same. It took a while for him to be chosen, but in November of 2016, he finally found the perfect home!!

The Punisher

This little bruiser was healthy, HUGE, and thriving all the time! We all felt like if any of the kittens would be okay, it would have to be The Punisher, and when all the kittens were tested, sure enough, The Punisher's was negative! He was virus free and has every reason to expect a long and healthy life! He was officially adopted by his foster family and will live with his biological mom Nutmeg for the rest of their lives! (Along with some other dog and cat friends too!)

Wolverine

"But wait," you say, "Who is Wolverine, and what happened to Elektra?!" This is awkward. At a whopping 12 weeks of age, Wolverine was finally discovered to be packing some previously unseen body parts and a new name was selected. Wolverine was constantly visiting the veterinarian as a young kitten due to an overly adventurous palate, a sensitive stomach, and a very .... cautious.... foster mom. We worried that his frequent trips may be a sign that he was immunocompromised and affected by his mother's condition. When we heard that one of the kittens had tested positive, we were certain he had been the unlucky one. BUT, we were WRONG!! Wolverine was negative for the virus! Several months later, the perfect family adopted Wolverine, and he has dog and cat friends and perfect humans to take care of him forever!

Meg

Our gorgeous and sweet little polydactyl, Meg, was healthy and bouncy from the very beginning. She had interest from a lot of adopters, but one family in particular just stood out to us as the perfect home for her. When we learned of the possibility that Meg may be positive for FeLV, we informed the family to be prepared for that possibility. Because they have other cats, if Meg was positive, she would not be able to find her home with them. We prayed and hoped that she would be clear of the virus, but unfortunately, her first SNAP testing revealed that she was infected. We were devastated that our sweet Meg may have a reduced lifespan and would not be able to go to the home that was waiting for her, but we continued to pray and hope that her body would be strong and fight the infection. Weeks after her initial testing, she started showing some symptoms of an upper respiratory infection, so we brought her in to one of the wonderful vets that serve our rescue cats. The vet sent a message to her foster that detailed her care and included the sentence "but don't worry about FeLV, the FeLV test is still showing negative." After an initial moment of disbelief, her foster responded to the veterinarian to remind her "But Meg is the kitten that tested positive." The unexpected response she received: "Well, not anymore!" Meg, the last of the kittens had cleared the virus and repeat testing confirmed it. Meg was free of FeLV and ready to live a long, healthy life with the home who had waited so patiently and faithfully throughout the whole ordeal.

Conclusion

Our five little miracles have brought so much joy to our rescue and their new families! While we would not wish to repeat the experience, and we recognize that this little family beat some terrible odds, we are so grateful for how much we learned about this condition and how to manage and care for the cats that are temporarily affected and those less fortunate cats that are permanently affected. We've since had another cat come through our rescue that cleared the virus and another still available who likely will not clear the virus, but who has every reason to expected more quality years of life ahead. We want to thank all the wonderful supporters and people who made this miracle possible including the donors who fund this work, the woman who saved Nutmeg from the street, the foster family who took care of them, and the adoptive families who will give them the wonderful lives they deserve!